Articles About Redesigning Our Future

Chance
Ratliff could conceivably divide his life into “before NES” and “after NES.”

Before
attending the National Environmental Summit for High School Students at Catawba
College in 2015, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life; his current
best friend hadn’t arrived; and he didn’t have a clue about who ran Environmental
Working Group (EWG) in Washington, D.C., or Yellowstone Forever in Wyoming.

Now,
after attending the summit for two years, he has a sure knowledge of what he
wants to do in his life and his career; his association with another summit
participant has engendered a three-year friendship; and Heather White, formerly
executive director of EWG and now president and CEO of Yellowstone Forever, has
become a treasured mentor.

EDITOR’S
NOTE: This story by Andie Foley appeared in the July 17, 2017, issue of the
Salisbury Post.

In
a first-floor lab at Catawba College’s Center for the Environment, a group of
nearly 30 teens has just trudged in from the nature preserve. They’ve worked in
small groups to design devices for catching and inventorying wetland animals.

As a Rowan County native, Macayla Upright was no stranger to Catawba
College when it came time for her to decide where to go after high school. In
fact, she can even recall sitting in the back seat as her mom drove through the
college campus from a very young age.

Invasive plants and animals. The psychology of
change. The role of water resources in warfare. Music to support environmental
causes.

These are just a few of the subjects participants
studied on the Catawba College campus July 12-16 at the 2016 National
Environmental Summit for High School Students. The Center for the Environment
and Catawba faculty joined forces once again with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)
and Environmental Working Group (EWG) to offer stimulating classes and help
students learn the skills they need to be environmental leaders.

As the National Environmental Summit for High School Students finished
its fifth year in mid-July, participants and teachers alike agreed that
it's more than just a course on the environment.

The summit is
the brainchild of the Center for the Environment at Catawba College and
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and hosted on the Catawba campus. The
Environmental Working Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., joined
as a partner this year.

Students attending the 2015 National Environmental Summit for High School Students at Catawba College heard two Catawba alumni talk about the importance of using creative solutions to environmental problems. The summit, designed to help students explore how they can use their interests and talents to make a difference in the world, is a partnership of the Center for the Environment at Catawba College, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) of Colorado and Environmental Working Group, headquartered in Washington, DC.

The fifth year of the National Environmental Summit for High School Students, hosted by the Center for the Environment at Catawba College, kicked off on Tuesday, July 7, with keynote speaker Heather White. Executive Director of the Environmental Working Group, an environmental advocacy organization, White spoke to this year's crop of students about how one person can make a difference.

Last week teens from around the country gathered at the Center for the Environment at Catawba College to learn how they can use their passions to create a sustainable world. Students attending the National Environmental Summit heard from renowned speakers, such as CNN 2013 Hero of the Year Robin Emmons.

The Center for the Environment at Catawba College kicked off its annual National Environmental Summit for High School Students Tuesday with speaker Robin Emmons.

Emmons is the founder and executive director of Sow Much Good, a non-profit organization that seeks to supply fresh produce to low-income neighborhoods in Charlotte. Emmons, a 2013 CNN “Hero of the Year,” travels around the country advocating for social equity in food supply.

The keynote speaker for the
2014 National Environmental Summit for High School Students left her 20-year career
in corporate America to help others.

One week after
resigning, Robin Emmons began working to save the life of her homeless and mentally
ill brother. She secured transitional housing, counseling and support services
for him, but his physical health was compromised because his diet was full of canned
and sugary foods, staples of the agency responsible for his care. Emmons began
donating produce from her garden for her brother and the 30 or so other
residents housed at the facility where he lived, and she saw a dramatic
improvement in his physical health.